Uttarakhand: HC takes suo moto cognizance of criminal cases against MPs, MLAs

Dehradun (Uttarakhand), February 18: The Uttarakhand High Court on Thursday took suo moto cognizance of the criminal cases filed against the state's MPs and MLAs, and ordered the government to give details on the cases filed and those still pending by March 3.

The state has a total of 70 MLAs and eight MPs. The ruling was made by a division bench comprising Acting Chief Justice Sanjay Kumar Mishra and Justice NS Dhanik.

It is worth noting that 14 MLAs from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress that are contesting the assembly elections are currently facing criminal charges. Of the total 626 candidates, 107 are facing criminal charges in various cases and 61 of these have serious criminal cases pending against them.

The ruling by Uttarakhand High Court comes just days after the assembly elections took place in the state.

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The polling for all 70 assembly seats was completed on February 14, which will either lead to a change in power or a continuation of BJP's regime. However, there would be a reshuffle of MLAs and infusion of new MLAs since the BJP and Congress did not field several sitting MLAs.

Furthermore, it is unclear which MLAs' information would be submitted to the court in this matter.

According to the Election Commission, voter turnout in the hilly state was 65 percent. The results of the elections will be announced on March 10.

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-PTC News